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This easy 20 minute turkey bolognese recipe is a quick and healthy pasta sauce that also makes great leftovers! This ground turkey pasta makes an excellent weeknight dinner that the whole family will love!
I love making a big batch of my spaghetti sauce when I have a few hours to spare, but that isn’t always possible. You can have a healthy and delicious homemade tomato and meat sauce ready in less than half an hour and without any fussy ingredients. A little bit of fresh parmesan cheese grated on top and you’ve got yourself one tasty meal!
How to make bolognese sauce with ground turkey
Sauté the onion in a skillet until softened; add the ground turkey and brown it. Add the other sauce ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes. Super easy!
If you felt like it, you could add a splash of cream to this ground turkey spaghetti sauce. I’m big on creamy sauces (you’ll know this if you read this blog with any regularity!), but I really enjoyed this sauce as is, which is good… because calories, right. If you’re busy stuffing yourself with pumpkin everything, this’ll help you achieve some balance. 😉
I can’t believe it’s almost October. It’s scary how fast time flies. I don’t like cold weather, but I do have sports to console me at least. Football season is well underway, and my Broncos are undefeated. Hockey season will begin soon, and I am excited to check out my Oilers’ new arena. So far we have tickets to December and March games, and we may buy another game or two from another season ticket holder friend. I’m cautiously optimistic that they’ll do better this year… but it has been a looong 10 years of not making the playoffs.
I’ve been brainstorming lots of cozy recipes to make and share with you in the coming months, and I’m pretty excited about them! If you have any suggestions of what kinds of things you’d like to see on here, I’d be happy to hear them.
I hope you will enjoy this ground turkey pasta recipe!
Easy 20 Minute Turkey Bolognese
Ingredients
- Pasta for serving
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 (28 fluid ounce) can diced tomatoes with juices
- 1 (7.2 fluid ounce) can tomato sauce
- 2 dashes Italian seasoning
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup (packed) fresh basil chopped
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Parmesan cheese (optional)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions.
- Add the olive oil and onion to a skillet and sauté on medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Add the turkey to the pan and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the canned tomatoes, Italian seasoning, garlic, and basil. Increase the heat to medium high. Once it starts to bubble, reduce the heat to medium and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt & pepper.
- Serve with pasta and freshly grated parmesan cheese.
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You may also like my creamy leftover turkey pasta recipe.
I have questions – are we supposed to let the meat cook fully? I followed the directions how they are listed and now I just have a slop of raw Turkey and tomatoes. When do we add the mentioned tomato sauce?
Hi Amy! By the end of step 3, the turkey should be almost fully cooked. It’s only a pound, and when you’re “browning” it (it’ll turn white) in a skillet, it really doesn’t take long at all (you’d break it up with your spoon/spatula as you go along, just like if you were browning ground beef). You then add in the remaining ingredients, including the two cans of tomatoes (the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce) and simmer it for another 10 minutes AFTER it starts to bubble (that’ll take a few minutes in itself)… so I really am not sure how you could end up with raw turkey at this point unless you missed the sauté step or used more than a pound of turkey.
Thank you for this recipe! I am currently six months pregnant with gallstones and on an ultra low-fat diet as a result. There’s not much yummy food options for me to eat and I have to get super creative to make yummy meals beside rice and veg. I had been craving a Bolognese sauce. When I found this recipe, I immediately made it. I am so satisfied, with the taste (although, I did add a little bit of chili powder for added flavor), my full belly, and best of all no gallbladder attacks!
You’re very welcome! I am so pleased that this fit into your diet. 🙂
This looks so incredibly delicious! I’m absolutely dying to dig into that bowl and I love how quick and simple it is to make.
Thanks Rachel!! Sometimes simple is the best! 😀